I think one thing, good, is that "how he operates" is a lot more public now than it was just 6 months ago. You have to have an iron will for that..

Agreed.

I feel for him. I am a software developer. Left to my own designs where I owned my own business and had no one to prod me I would get nothing done as I would constantly be thinking of ways to perfect what I was working on during the development life cycle and would have astronomical scope creep. Luckily I realized I needed to work for someone else that would demand results lest I would be homeless...

Coincidentally, I just received this today. I'm contemplating a flight overseas to go for shits and giggles. Something tells me this will be a proper reveal.

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This was almost worse than having no reveal at all. At least that could be blamed on lack of a plan.

Showing only art today suggests the guns are out of ammo. Probably not the case, but why come out with a whimper when you can knock us out with a bang?

I was pulling for something, anything resembling good news. Please let me know if I missed it.

So, no picture of a live populated play field or anything?

Did he remove the fish eye lens at least?

Man, I swear dude - this is just nuts. Pinside needs a vasoline subforum with how many people are being continually screwed over.

Absolutely insane. I am so sorry to everyone who invested anything in this.

Time to release a line of Hallmark greeting cards.

"Hope you get your money back."

I've already put in the Gimme' Shelter Blu Ray and going to play some Safe Cracker. Maybe I'll win my money back there.

Apparently he's busy with side projects. Most know about his "school" (http://www.pinballschool.org) -- Classes starting soon! And recently someone found http://pinballtruss.com.

But there appears to be other "projects". Maybe these are game 4 and 5?

http://www.pussycatpinball.com - "Coming Kinda Soon" in 2015
http://www.pinballx.org - Coming in 2015!

or http://nanoschool.org
or http://the-nanohome.com
or http://zidbook.org
or http://makerjohn.net
or http://rockstarpinball.com
or http://pinballmaximus.com (Waaah?)
or http://www.pinballscrapbook.com
and others...

Also he we have this: http://pinballcreatorkit.com, which I think only comes with paypal account and list of collectors with money to spend. No real pinball parts or plans on how to create a pinball machine.

Funny. Most of his sites are just 1 page. The nav links won't work. The creator kit page shows, well, a few pieces that you could possibly use for pinball. I see an Arduino module. And some did retrofit several modules to redo a Fireball machine.

oh good grief. Finish something first john. Or at least be a little more honest with the years!

Well Ice do we have any legal recourse? I'm sure since I bought mine from cointaker I would have to go after them, which would be unfortunate as Chris is a good guy.

Yeah, none are remotely complete and these of course could be just a result of a lazy weekend where he needed to take some time off on the games. But it does beg the question how much time he spends on getting the primary projects done.

I am surprised MG/RAZA owners don't just all group together and show up at his office and demand a chat.

They knew if it happened he would implode, which would mean the games would never be made and they would be out the money. Something tells me confrontation would not be conducive to his wellbeing...

confidence schizophrenia - I think you have discovered a new mental illness.

He did say everything would be up by midnight. I'm hoping this isn't everything. I guess he has two more hours so maybe something will show up then.

Wow! I had no idea it's gotten that bad. I think john needs to watch "it's a wonderful life" a few times next week..
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I'm confused, cause people have said they've played it. If he's not posting it, then he's still paranoid and holding back. A lot of good that does anyone.

Maybe http://www.pussycatpinball.com is John's way of calling "dibs" on a bowling themed pinball machine.

Oh... wait...

Maybe he pulled another translite-reveal; posted a 1 hour "making of" video with gameplay and full rules breakdown, but pulled it down the moment he saw someone log on his website?

He did. One of the sites is copyrighted 2015. He's from the future!

His facebook page for one of his Zidware things(a game?) hasn't been touched since 2012.

They played what exists. What exists is not complete.

I will admit, the man can draw. He can draw people & hands while I can't even draw a stick figure right(see: my stupid pinball playfield sketches). The pussycat pinball idea looks nice, but it looks like a reaction to TBL. I think the TBL reveal at Expo really got to him. They were the prom king & queen, while he just had an empty cab. He saw this & quickly retracted things thinking "they're gonna steal my stuff! This is all I got!".

But then he comes up with pussycat bowling? That seems like exactly what he didn't want done to him(copying). Also, the woman in the center looks like "the magic girl".

But maybe, just maybe, I'm wrong. It's uncle John! He's never let us down, he just needs "a little more time". A misunderstood artist. Things are "just tied up right now", and "it's not a good time".

Well that explains all the "digital watermarks" to trace leaks. Extreme paranoia seems to be the case.

No he can't. He hires artists to do everything. He paid some kid to draw girls in cat ears, wrote up a concept, and put up a webpage.

I dunno where this idea keeps coming from, Jpop didn't do the art for any of his Williams games, and he's not doing them now. You're paying him to be a designer and idea man and director, and that's what he's doing, coming up with ideas. Maybe some designing. Not much directing.

Just curious. Do any MG buyers want refunds? Heard there was a wait list. After all this, anyone looking to sell their top 20 spot?

...and spent on GoDaddy domains apparently.

Wish the best for all involved.

Okay, someone else can draw. Hire that person to do pins...for other companies.

I was under the impression he did all the drawing, thinking that was his input with CV and such. That, and I've only seen artwork from "him", and really not much else. He's definitely not a web designer.

I've been busy all day and am just getting caught up. This is a lot of information to process. Can someone give me a quick rundown of what went down? Am I to understand that the "big reveal" happened today, and the only thing that was actually revealed was the artwork? This doesn't make any sense. I was at his shop recently and saw several Magic Girls with my own eyes. It looked like the game was coming along nicely. What the f*ck is going on? I'm so confused.

i am not a doctor but there appears to be some cause to believe there are some possible mental health issues at play. paranoia and delusion possibly...

nobody wanted his kiss machine but they want all his other stuff mind blowing stuff, gotcha

send 2000$ more !!!

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You pretty much nailed it. Just art so far. His description said everything up by midnight so he has another hour I guess.

I was kinda hoping for a stern style featuregram, cabinet shot and an overhead playfield shot.

I would have just been satisfied with a timetable though.

This I think you're wrong on Aurich. The man can sketch VERY well. I guarantee the pussycat drawing is his. He draws all concepts and then gives it to some kid to "draw" digitally. Not saying he did this for any of his Williams games, but definitely with the Zidware vapor ware.

Could be, I've never met him, but people I know who have told me he can't draw worth a damn. If you have first hand experience that says otherwise I bow to it.

He definitely didn't do the art for the pins everyone knows him for, they all have artist credits.

If that's true, then what exactly has he personally been working on? Even time I read this thread the story gets stranger and stranger.

12:08 CST. So come on, secret JPOP society, spill the deets on the full reveal!

not happening...nada still in full affect by his rules with all the new stuff hes showing over the next few weeks

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Iceman, what are our options?

"The Knave of Hearts has bestowed this premium card unto you. The secret code hidden below, with favor, is more valuable than you [really] know." Below the foil seal: "Premium Void If Peeled Before December 2014"

I just tried posting from an email. Still says my comment is awaiting moderation. Guess I don't get to bitch on the blog.

Looks like it is already on this page with some other AIW stuff, and a lot easier to read:

http://pinballer2014.wordpress.com/tag/zidware/

hey im not saying i agree with it....just was stating what hes doing...lol hes negative not me

When you buy into a pinball company you are partly buying into the personality of the owner ( s ).

Unfortunately it would appear his level of perfectionism is so great that he keeps re-doing things in the desire for it to be perfect. Of course, perfectionism is an illusion. And as perfectionism is an unconscious strategy against 'failure', the irony is that the quest for perfection results in failure.

Even worse when using other people's money and being paranoid that others will steal these ideas. So much time and money gets used protecting these ideas that there is a chance they never actually make it to production.

I really hope these games get made. I have a friend who is down for MG.

Heh, so far they haven't done anything since the only useful public patent of his at the moment has already been non-final rejected mostly because of... his own patent on CV (which is BS anyway because of Flipper Football).

Source: http://portal.uspto.gov/pair/PublicPair app # 13709056

Been a bad year for pinball patents in general. Stern lost their rgb led patent and accelerometer patent. Multimorphic has been final-rejected on a major one and non-final on a few others.

So I coined a new term…..The Lebowski Effect – “The outcome of showing a new game concept, exactly and early on, in it’s entirety to the masses to create surprise, comradery and extreme happiness”

That is John's quote.

He set the expectations for the reveal yesterday, then totally screwed it up. Just like at expo, telling us there was going to be more there and showing up with empty cabinets.

This is not going to end well for any of us.

If we could only have a "Popaduik Effect"

John, Please complete and produce the game, soon!

Just noticed that today (Dec 18th) is exactly 2 months from the infamous "Great Pinball Expo Week" (Oct 18) post on the raza blog. It's interesting to re-read it, and John's responses, and see where we are 2 months later.

in the year 2000

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people on pinside will stop fighting,

and instead will start collecting mold, spores, and fungus

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